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Simons: Afghans proving they can run country

FILE - This Sept. 7, 2011 file photo shows a U.S. Marine sweeping for land mines in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. The shrinking US combat role in Afghanistan has had the unwanted effect of giving insurgents more time and space to plan deadlier attacks using bigger improvised bombs. So while the number of attacks has declined, attacks are more lethal, Pentagon officials say. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

New Afghan Army recruits celebrate during a graduation ceremony at the Afghan National Army base on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

The war in Afghanistan is a complex effort to strengthen the government structure to prevent the likes of al-Qaeda from using the region as a safe haven for their planning and training for world domination.

In late 2001, we began that effort to put al-Qaeda on the chopping blocks and spent billions on eradication of the militants. That effort has been an unmitigated success as al-Qaeda is relegated to mainly the poor end countries of the Middle East where the government structure of the day is essentially non-existent.

But what about our efforts in prosecuting the war in Afghanistan?

Based on what the Western media provides us with, the perception of the war’s violence is at all-time highs with little chance for success. Of course, success to one is failure to others, but the realities are that life in this part of the world is fraught with danger.

Saying that, we are winning.

Pure and simple, we have essentially relegated al-Qaeda to a third rung act here in Afghanistan. The Taliban, (essentially the militant extremists opposed to the modernization of Afghanistan) continue to talk a game like they matter, but their efforts are weak at best. They are so outmatched by the world-trained Afghan National Security Force; they have resorted to the usual tactics for making a splash by bombing innocent women and children.

This year was supposed to be the Taliban’s break-out year. It was the year in which to make major territorial gains as the NATO forces turned over the reins of Afghan national security to the Afghans and prepared for the scaling down of the war effort with most troops out of country by the end of 2014.

This was the year for the Taliban to be the masters of their domain and prove that the ANSF was weak and could not maintain security in Afghanistan.

It was the year that they would embarrass the world for their effort and show it that the Taliban were the rightful rulers of this country.

Fortunately, for the world, that didn’t happen.

The ANSF has proven to be a capable army and police force. They have proven to be resilient and proficient and have largely been able to defend against insurgent attacks this fighting season. They have been able to provide layered security thus keeping most Afghans away from the horrors of war.

In addition, the Taliban’s use of improvised explosive devises, or bombs, has so far failed to stifle the travels of both the Coalition and Afghan forces, as well as civilians. The end result is that a majority of Afghans continue to hold a negative view of the Taliban and their form of government and do not want them to return to power.

In April 2014, the Afghans will hold their third national election since the fall of the Taliban. The effort of the ANSF will be to provide a level of security that unmasks the Taliban as incapable of disrupting the national election process.

Based on the 2013 fighting season, the ANSF will succeed.

Lt. Col. David Simons of Savannah is the Public Affairs Officer for the 165th Airlift Wing, Georgia Air National Guard. He is currently serving as a Public Affairs Officer at the International Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan located in Kabul.